Facts for 2016

The 2016 Hottest 100 was the twenty-fourth annual Hottest 100 countdown since the change of the format which allowed only songs from the previous year to be voted for.

The Countdown

The countdown took place in January of 2017 and featured a mixture of 66 different artists. Over 2.2 million votes were counted in the countdown, which was considered to be a current record.

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In the lead-up to the countdown, there were calls from various groups for Triple J to change the date of the Hottest 100 from January 26th (which is usually celebrated as Australia Day), to a day that is more inclusive of Australia's Indigenous cultures. Much attention was given to these calls, especially by way of a petition which aimed to get A.B. Original's 'January 26' to the #1 position. Since the track focuses heavily on the aspect of changing the date and lists the reasons why it should be changed to a more inclusive date, this petition gained much momentum. Ultimately, the track reached the #16 position.

On September 13th, 2016, Triple J released a statement in which they outlined the reasons as to why, at this stage, the countdown was going to stay on January 26th. However, they did note that despite the date remaining on January 26th in 2017, it is still under review and the station may look at moving the countdown in future years.

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Flume's #1 track gives Australia it's 4th consecutive winning track, while the top 3 consisted entirely of Triple J Unearthed artists, which is also a new first.

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DMA's Like A Version cover of 'Believe' brings the highest position a Like A Version cover has reached to #6, while the highest position any cover version has reached is one position higher, at #1.

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At #20, The xx featured with their track 'On Hold'. Announcers noted the fitting position of the track, due to the fact that the Roman numerals for '20' are 'XX'. Likewise, some listeners noted the irony of Illy's 'Catch 22' reaching #23, and how the second time that Catfish And The Bottlemen made the countdown was with a song called 'Twice'.

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Incidentally, Illy's 'Catch 22' at #23 features the following lyrics: "And for all the easy ways out, the harder that it gets/Now isn't that ironic? No Alanis Morissette." While Alanis Morissette's song 'Ironic' never made a Hottest 100 countdown, 3 other songs from that album charted in the 1995 countdown, with 'You Oughta Know', 'Hand In Pocket', and 'All I Really Want' reaching positions #39, #85, and #90, respectively.

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RÜFÜS' 'Innerbloom' appeared at #30 by way of What So Not's remix of the track. In the 2015 countdown, the original version reached #103.

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At #45, A.B. Original charted with their Like A Version cover of Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls' 'Dumb Things'. Paul Kelly's appearance in the 2016 means that he is now the current record holder of the longest gap between countdowns. Paul Kelly had last appeared 16 years earlier in the 2000 countdown with 'Every Fucking City', which reached #9.

Ironically, the record had actually been beaten earlier in the countdown by The Avalanches, who had appeared for the first time since 2001, a gap of 15 years. Prior to this, the record was jointly held by Robert Smith of The Cure, Ben Folds Five, and Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine, who had previously appeared after gaps of 13 years.

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At #49, Hilltop Hoods charted with 'Higher'. The song features the following lyrics: "She don't want you to bounce too soon man, I feel like Andy Kaufman, the Man on the Moon." The lyrics refer to infamous American comedian Andy Kaufman, who died in 1984. Due to his comedic style, many fans believe his death was staged as an elaborate hoax. Kaufman's life is the subject of the 1999 film Man On The Moon, whose title is taken from the 1993 R.E.M. song 'Man On The Moon', which is itself written about Kaufman. In the 1993 countdown, that song charted at #93. In 2000, R.E.M's song 'The Great Beyond', written for the soundtrack of the film, reached #55 in that year's countdown.

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At #56, Paces charted with his Like A Version cover of L D R U's 'Keeping Score', which charted the previous year at #22. The track featured guest vocals from Guy Sebastian, the winner of the inaugural Australian Idol season. While the Hottest 100 had featured previous Australian Idol contestants, such as Lisa Mitchell, or Matt Corby, this is the first time that an Australian Idol winner has featured in a countdown.
Ironically, at the end of the 2003 Hottest 100, breakfast hosts Adam Spencer and Wil Anderson announced that the winning track was 'What About Me?', by the second-place getter in the inaugural Australian Idol season Shannon Noll. After playing a portion of the song, the announcers stopped the song and announced the real winner.

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DOPE LEMON appeared twice in the countdown, with 'Marinade' at #62, and 'Uptown Folks' at #87. DOPE LEMON is the pseudonym for Angus Stone, who had previously appeared in numerous countdowns as part of the duo Angus & Julia Stone, in which he performs with his sister. At #70, Golden Features charted with the song 'Wolfie', which features guest vocals from Julia Stone.

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At #66, Beyoncé featured with her song 'Hold Up'. Triple J had in fact been subject to a lot of criticism from listeners who accused Triple J of being too 'mainstream' by playing her music. When 'Hold Up' was announced to have made the countdown, announcers noted how it was in fact the 'first time' she had made it into a countdown. In fact, she had actually appeared 18 places previously, as an uncredited guest vocalist on Frank Ocean's 'Pink + White' at #84.

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At #100, Birds Of Tokyo featured with their song 'Brace'. This marks the second time that singer Ian Kenny had reached #100, the first time being in 2013, when his other group Karnivool opened the countdown with 'We Are'.

Artists Featured

Violent Soho was the best performing group of the countdown, with 5 tracks, while Flume charted 4 times. A further 6 artists reached 3 tracks each, while 22 artists appeared twice.

Nick Littlemore (11, 93)
(Once with Pnau and once with Empire Of The Sun)

Rihanna (72, 99)
(Once with Kanye West and once with Drake)

Vera Blue (92, 81)
(Once with Illy and once as a solo artist)

Countries Featured

The 2016 Hottest 100 featured artists from 10 countries, including 66 from Australia, 16 from the USA, and 5 from England.

Australia's 66 entries breaks the record of set in 2014, of 59 entries in a countdown.
Likewise, the 5 entries by England is a current record low for the country, with the 1998 countdown previous low, with 8 tracks that year.

A Couple Of Notes

‘Never Be Like You', at #1, was a collaboration between Flume and Kai, who are Australian and Canadian, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.

‘Say It', at #8, was a collaboration between Flume and Tove Lo, who are Australian and Swedish, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.

‘Stranger', at #9, was a collaboration between Peking Duk and Elliphant, who are Australian and Swedish, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.

‘Starboy', at #10, was a collaboration between The Weeknd and Daft Punk, who are Canadian and French, respectively. However, the track is counted as a Canadian entry for simplicity.

‘Love$ick', at #13, was a collaboration between Mura Masa and A$AP Rocky, who are from Guernsey and America, respectively. However, the track is counted as an entry from Guernsey for simplicity.

‘Catch 22', at #23, was a collaboration between Illy and Anne-Marie, who are Australian and English, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.

‘One Dance', at #31, was a collaboration between Drake, Wizkid, and Kyla, who are Canadian, Nigerian, and Filipino respectively. However, the track is counted as a Canadian entry for simplicity.

‘Smoke & Retribution', at #37, was a collaboration between Flume, Vince Staples, and Kučka, who are Australian, American, and Australian, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.

‘I Feel It Coming', at #41, was a collaboration between The Weeknd and Daft Punk, who are Canadian and French, respectively. However, the track is counted as a Canadian entry for simplicity.

‘Famous', at #72, was a collaboration between Kanye West and Rihanna, who are American and Barbadian, respectively. However, the track is counted as an American entry for simplicity.

‘Lose It', at #95, was a collaboration between Flume and Vic Mena, who are Australian and American, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.